Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Know, good mother,
I had rather be their servant in my way,
Than sway with them in theirs.

Faith, there hath been many great men that have flattered the people, who ne'er loved them; and there be many that they have loved, they know not wherefore; so that, if they love they know not why, they hate upon no better a ground. Therefore, for Coriolanus neither to care whether they love or hate him manifests the true knowledge he has in their disposition, and out of his noble carelessness lets them plainly see't.

Bid them wash their faces
And keep their teeth clean.

I have found many in the world who would pass off their cowardice, their fear, their evil under the auspices of nobility. But true nobility can never be mistook. Nobility is a fire we must either join and be consumed of or strive to put out; it brooks no in-between. So in life, there are those who would say that difference with the world is condemnable, difference with the crowds is pathetic, yet people in large groups are notorious for both their stupidity and the damage their actions bring. There are crowds of those who falsely think they have aspired to something, but when they come out of the shadows, ashes are all they hold. The heroes of old whose praises we sing are often the men and women we murder and ridicule today. Be careful--this is the moral of Coriolanus.